Wednesday, January 06, 2016

Christmas is over but I've just started making my list and checking it twice for the Spring Inspiration Conspiracy Video Hop!

Inspiration Conspiracy is a mentoring program I started where 3 or 4 large or more established YouTube channels get together with 9 small channels and we have a video hop. Our viewers are treated to 13 10-minute process videos where they can see projects being made by some of their favorite creative YouTubers as well as some new channels they might not be familiar with. This creates a lot of new traffic and exposure for the small YouTube channels, giving them a little help to establish a viewership. Since the hop is designed in a way that makes it easy to hop from one channel to the next during one viewing session, it increases our watch time which is a huge benefit for the larger channels. I love it when everybody wins!

I frequently get asked how a channel can participate in an Inspiration Conspiracy event. The bad news is that it is by invitation only. But the good news is that I frequently seek out channels to invite.

Why is it invitation only? Are we snobs or something? Absolutely not! The way our video hops are structured makes them very successful for all of the participants...hoppers and host channels. Part of that structure is limiting the groups to no more than 13 participants. The small group atmosphere helps the participants to get to know each other better and provides a more comfortable environment for asking questions. It also makes it possible for our viewers to watch all of the hop videos in one viewing session which is beneficial for the participants as well as our viewers.

If you have a craft related YouTube channel and you have fewer than 1000 subscribers, you are a potential Inspiration Conspiracy candidate. Obviously I can't choose every channel with less than 1000 subscribers so there are some things you can do to increase your chances of receiving an invitation.

1. Make process videos. There is nothing wrong with project shares, flip-through and show-and-tell videos, I make a lot of them myself. But the only way for me to know if you are willing and able to make process videos is if I see some examples on your channel. Any kind of process video is acceptable: real time, speedy, voice overs, music background, etc.

2. Upload consistently. You don't have to upload videos daily but I do check to see that you upload consistently even if it's just once a month. I tend to avoid channels who upload sporadically or have large gaps between uploads. I really want to work with those who are committed to growing their channels.

Yeah, that's pretty much it! It also helps to provide your Facebook link on your channel home page or at least be familiar with how to check for private messages on YouTube. On a couple of occasions I've had trouble making contact with someone I wanted to invite. We do all of our planning in a private Facebook group so you do have to be familiar with that.

You don't have to have high quality professional videos, just make sure you can be clearly seen and clearly heard. And, obviously, I have to like what you do! I look all different kinds of art, crafts, and creative content, not just those in the mixed media/art journaling realm.

Be on the lookout for upcoming Inspiration Conspiracy events! We have groups in place and ready to hop on January 14, 2016 and April 7, 2016 and we have tentative plans for a summer hop in late June. Whether you are a participant or a viewer you are in for a special treat!

I want 2016 to be the year that I use my stuff and I'm starting with a fun glue book/junk journal/art journal. I will use the categories below to fill my journal with items from my collection that I'm hoarding but not using. Then I will use it as a guide to keep an eye out for more potential journal fodder as the year progresses.

I started with 2 2015 Oklahoma travel guide books

Some pages got a little gesso, others were collaged with wax paper scraps.